Hoosiers hit the stores early

Thanksgiving is traditionally the time to enjoy turkey, stuffing and a little pumpkin pie. This year, you can add shopping to the list. Many retailers opened earlier to extend the holiday shopping season by several hours.

The line outside the west side Best Buy began forming at 2 p.m. Thursday, just four hours before its 6pm opening.

Shar B was giddy with excitement. "I love this!" she said. "I love fighting the crowd, being out among people, getting great sales. It's wonderful."

Some admitted they were a bit conflicted with doing holiday shopping on a holiday.

Jennifer Baugh said, "It's not fair for employees, but there's not much you can do to stop it. Everyone wants to shop to get the deals, so you might as well do it."

And many did. The south side Toys R Us opened at 5 p.m. Thursday with hundreds of people eager to snag a door buster.

Bryand Pacheco stood in a long, winding line with a full cart saying he brought his iPod "to listen to music."

Pacheco said being in a packed toy store wasn't exactly his favorite way to spend Thanksgiving.

But the Black Friday shopping veteran added, compared to other cities, "Indianapolis is pretty calm. Chicago is pretty wild. There are fights there. Indianapolis is nice, so it's not so bad here."

The Edinburgh Outlet Center, with its 82 stores, also drew big crowds to places like the Gap, which promoted deep discounts.